Aqua and Terra were practicing in the throne room today. Master had left early this morning to do something, so the two were training each other. Aqua performed a fast combo attack while Terra watched. "The key is to let each movement lead into the next," she told him. "No pun intended."

Terra laughed a little bit. "Okay. I'll try." He swung his blade around, trying to mimic Aqua's combo.

"That's good," she told him. "But honestly, I think your style of fighting suits you. It'd be weird if a big guy like you was doing cartwheels and backflips and jumping around. Can you teach me to hit as hard as you do?"

Terra rested his blade on his shoulder. "To improve my strength, I do three hundred reps of each stroke every day."

"Three hundred?"

"Yup." He lifted his keyblade over his head and brought it in a downward slash. "One." He repeated it. "Two." He repeated it again. "Three." With each stroke he took a step forward. "Four. Five. Six. Seven." He picked up speed. "Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven."

Aqua began to swing her keyblade in an overhead strike. "One. Two. Three." She counted as she did the same movement over and over again. She eventually reached, "Sixty-seven, sixty-eight. Oh shit this hurts."

"After the pain it'll feel good. Trust me," assured Terra.

"I don't think I can do this."

"You're new to it, so it feels weird. But once you get used to it, you'll like it."

"I think I've reached my limit," she said as she rotated her shoulder. "I think I'll hurt myself if I keep going."

"Take it slow," Terra advised. "The first time is tough for everyone."

That is when the front door opened and closed. Curiously, Terra and Aqua peeked over the railing of the stairs to see who just walked in. It was Master Eraqus, and beside him, another man, a tan-skinned, bald fellow with beady yellow eyes and a white beard. The two spoke in hushed voices. Behind them followed a little boy. He stood by the doorway as the two older men walked away.

"Aqua, do you think he's a new student?" Terra said, pointing to the boy.

"Maybe," she replied. "He looks a bit young though. But I guess it's better to start early."

Terra jumped over the railing, landing in front of the boy. Although the kid was staring at the floor, he neither flinched or startled. He didn't even look up. Terra leaned forward and said, "Hi kid. I'm Terra. What's your name? How old are you? Are you a keyblade user too? Will you be joining us?"

The kid said nothing.

"Hello? Hey kid, I'm talking to you. You should listen to your elders."

Nothing.

Terra snapped his fingers. "Hello? Kid?" Finally, Ven looked up to meet Terra's eyes. Terra noticed that the boy's gaze was unblinking. So he asked, "Are you okay?"

Again, nothing.

"Are you ignoring me? What's going on here?" Terra tapped the boy's forehead. "Why aren't you answering my questions? Do you not speak the language? At least make an effort to say something. Unless you're shy? Are you shy, kid?"

Ven started screaming. "AHHHHHHH! STOP! AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Aqua, who had walked down the stairs like a normal person, met up with the two. "Huh? What's going on?"

Ven knelt down, placed his hands on his head and cried out, "HELP! HELP! STOOOOOOOOP! AHHHHHHHH!"

Terra took several steps back. Aqua asked, "What did you do Terra?"

Terra, panicking, responded, "I don't know!"

Luckily for the two, Ven's screams summoned Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort from the other room. Eraqus asked, "What's going on?"

Terra pointed to Ven and said, "I asked him some questions and he started screaming!"

"He lost his memory," Xehanort explained. "Don't ask him anything, you fool!"

"Sorry!" Terra apologized.

Ven was still screaming, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhh…" He fainted.

Master Eraqus, Master Xehanort, Aqua and Terra all waited to see what Ventus would do next. The suspense eased when they realized that Ventus had fallen asleep. Xehanort then faced Eraqus. "Well then, I shall leave him in your care."

"Very well then, dear friend. I will care for him."

"Good. Bye." With that last farewell, Xehanort left the palace. Dreadfully confused, Aqua asked, "What's going on?"

"Ventus will be joining us here as a student from now on," Eraqus explained. "However, he's in a bad condition right now, so he will need to rest. Terra, since you wanted to ask him questions, you should carry him to a room and watch over him for a while."

Feeling guilty, Terra nodded. "Of course." He picked up Ventus and slung him over his shoulder. Aqua followed him, saying, "I'll help."

Meanwhile, Eraqus recalled what Master Xehanort had just told him:

"Ventus is my student—or was my student." Xehanort looked worn down with remorse. "I trained him too hard. I was trying to push the boy past his limits, to make him stronger. But I only succeeding in damaging his heart. What a fool I have been, Eraqus!" Xehanort covered his face with his hands. "I have failed as a master. I have hurt my precious student. And I cannot forgive myself! I don't trust myself to raise him anymore. But he has nowhere else to go. So, Eraqus, can you open up your home to yet another student?"

Something had seemed fishy to Eraqus about the way that Xehanort told the story. It seemed as if the latter were leaving out a key piece of information. Perhaps he was even lying. After all, how could someone's heart become so damaged solely from training? "What sort of damage?" Eraqus asked.

"It seems like he used the darkness in his heart to grow stronger," Xehanort turned his face away. "The darkness began to overpower him. In order to save him, I needed to seal away the darkness. Now he is what you see before you."

"What of the darkness? What happened to it?"

"It separated from him. And I fear that destroying it will also destroy him. So I shall dedicate myself to watching over the darkness that I have sealed from Ventus's heart, for the rest of my days."

Eraqus wanted to believe his friend. "Very well then, Xehanort. Of course I will take care of Ventus."

Xehanort smiled—or perhaps it was a devious smirk. "Thank you, Eraqus."

Later that night, Aqua sat on a stool beside the bed, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of Ven's chest. "Terra, you put the kid in a coma," she stated. The two had taken shifts watching over him during the day, but Ventus still hadn't woken up. "I really didn't mean to hurt the guy," Terra told her as he paced back and forth. "I was just eager to meet him."

"It's not your fault. Something must be seriously wrong if the kid passed out like this." She stroked his hair and yawned. Terra checked his watch. It was 2am. "Get some sleep Aqua. I'll watch him."

"You don't need to watch him all night."

"I want to be here so he doesn't wake up alone and afraid in a foreign place. That would be terrible."

"You're so sweet Terra."

"Thanks."

She gave him a hug, and left to go sleep in her room. Silently, Terra applauded himself for acting cool in front of Aqua. But then he chided himself for making a little boy pass out. Terra exhaled. "What the hell could have happened to this kid?"

He didn't know when he fell asleep, but when Terra awoke the next morning, Ventus was still asleep. "Oh shit, did I seriously put this boy in a coma?" he muttered.

Aqua arrived soon after and, upon seeing Ven still asleep in bed, asked, "Should we take him to a hospital?"

Master Eraqus entered the room, and answered her question. "No, no. This is not something that medicine can heal. He simply needs time."

"Why is he like this, Master?" Aqua asked.

"Perhaps he is in shock," he answered her. "Please be patient with him."

So they were. For the next few days, Aqua and Terra took turns monitoring Ven's condition and caring for him. By the end of the week, Terra was sitting on the stool beside Ven's bed, playing on his cellphone, when, he heard a voice weakly ask, "Where am I?"

Utterly surprised, Terra jumped up and said, "You're awake!"

Ven sat up. Placing a hand on his forehead, he looked to Terra and asked once more, "Where am I?"

Afraid to cause the boy trauma, again, he didn't answer the question. Instead, he said, "You're safe right now."

"But where am I?" Ven insisted.

"Hold on for just a moment while I go get my Master."

"Master?" Ven grabbed his head. "M-master?" He began to tremble. "No. I'm scared."

Seeing Ven in distress, Terra decided to try to calm him down. He very gently grabbed Ven in a hug. "It's okay. I've got you. You'll be safe."

Ven shook his head. "I'm confused."

"It's okay. Just wait one moment."

So Terra sought out his Master and Aqua and the three returned to Ven's side. "So you're awake?" asked Master Eraqus. "Hello and welcome, Ventus."

"Is that me?"

"Yes, you are Ventus."

"Where am I?"

"You are in the Land of Departure in the palace that I guard as keyblade master. My name is Master Eraqus." He gestured to Terra. "This is Terra." He gestured to Aqua. "And this is my beautiful student Aqua." Aqua and Terra rolled their eyes while Master said, "From now on, you will be joining us as my student. Are you okay with that?"

Ven looked at their calm, smiling faces. The boy Ven nodded. A little bit of sparkle returned to his eyes.

"Good. Good. Well, first things first. Get cleaned up and eat something. Then Aqua and Terra shall give you a tour of the area. Aqua, Terra, I shall leave him in your care." Eraqus walked away.

Aqua complained, "Shouldn't he be the one taking care of Ventus?" She shook her head. "And why did he call me his 'beautiful student'?"

Terra griped, "At least he called you his student. I'm just Terra."

"He's so terrible," Aqua declared. She turned to Ventus. "I'll go make a nice sandwich for you, okay?" To Terra she said, "Give him a bath and a change of clothes." And she left.

"I don't want to give him a bath," grumbled Terra.

Ven, though, stared at him with innocent blue eyes.

"Alright, kid, let's take a bath," he said.

Once the boy was clean, Terra dressed him and took Ven to the dining room, where Aqua had set out some sandwiches. Ven looked to Terra. Terra said, "Go ahead. Eat." So Ven sat down and ate.

After a brief tour of the palace, Aqua and Terra took Ven to Master Eraqus's office. Aqua said, "Master, we're done showing him around." Eraqus approached Ventus and looked into his eyes. The boy's eyes were still dull, but a bit of shine had returned. Terra asked, "So what now?"

Honestly, Eraqus had no idea what to do next. But he couldn't admit that to his students. "We allow him to heal one step at a time," Eraqus said, while ruffling Ven's hair. Allow him to follow your daily routines. Once he gets accustomed to life here, perhaps his memories shall return. Treat him gently, until you see the shine return to his eyes."

"Right," Terra and Aqua replied.

The trio left Master's office. As they walked down the hall, Terra said, "Master has no idea what's going on, does he?"

Aqua nodded her head. "Nope. He's clueless."

"So what do we do now?"

Aqua shrugged. "Want to go to the summit and train?"

"What about Ventus?"

"He can watch, right?"

So the three went to the training field on the summit. Ventus sat in the grass and observed Aqua and Terra as they battled each other for practice.

"Freeze!" Aqua shouted, as she conjured a block of ice to shoot at Terra. Terra swatted it away and rushed toward her. She blocked the attack, but fell down. "Ouch, okay, okay, you win," she said. Terra laughed. "Haha, I'm getting better aren't I?" He helped her up. "You have to work harder if you want to keep up with me."

Aqua chuckled and answered, "You have too much stamina. I'm already finished before you're tired."

He pulled her closer and asked, "Am I being too rough? I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't worry about hurting me," she told him as she leaned closer to him. "I can handle a little bit of pain." The two laughed.

All of a sudden, Ven stood up. With a flick of his wrist, Ven summoned his keyblade. He ran toward the startled Aqua and Terra at full speed. Terra pushed Aqua aside and blocked a strike from Ven. Without flinching, Ven reversed on Terra and elbowed him in the back. Since Terra wasn't expecting it, he fell forward. Ven then charged at Aqua. She deflected his strikes, and back flipped away. Yet, he was too quick, because, he dashed at her and thrust her on the belly.

She fell back into the grass. Terra grabbed Ven in a headlock. "Hey! Stop it!" Terra told him. Ven elbowed Terra in the ribs and slipped out of his grasp. He turned and bonked Terra on the side of the head with his keyblade. Terra fell over and grabbed his head. "Shhhhhhiiiit," he swore.

"Why the hell is this kid so good?" asked Aqua.

Ven assumed a fighting stance, saying, "This is too easy." Some of the sparkle returned to his eyes.

Standing up, Aqua and Terra laughed awkwardly. "How about another round?" suggested Terra. "It won't be so easy."

"Yup," Aqua agreed. "You caught us by surprise last time."

"Alright then," Ven said, smiling.

And they proceeded to battle again.

By the end of the day, Aqua and Terra were laid out on the ground, breathing heavily, while Ven, slightly out of breath stood over them.

"What the actual fuck?" muttered Terra.

Aqua said, "This kid is insane. We need to focus more on our training."

Ven sat down. "You two are pretty pathetic," he said as he laid back on the grass. "But that was really fun."

And the three of them stared at the clouds for a little while.